30-04-09 Al Qaeda agent admits aiding Sept. 11 attackers

In a case the Obama administration was keenly interested in, a former Bradley University student pleaded guilty in Peoria federal court today to conspiring with, and providing support for, Al Qaeda operatives in the months before and after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.Ali al-Marri,43,spoke softly and occasionally smiled as U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm read aloud a timeline of criminal activity that included meetings with two key architects of the terrorist attacks,participating in terrorist training camps in Pakistan and researching cyanide compounds and other chemical agents purportedly for an attack on U.S soil."Ali al-Marri today admitted that he came here,to Peoria,Illinois,as an Al Qaeda operative the day before the Sept. 11 attacks to plan and prepare for future acts of terrorism within the United States," said Jeffrey Lang,acting U.S. Attorney for the central district of Illinois.What exactly Marri,a Qatar native,was planning before his arrest in Dec. 2001 on charges of credit card fraud and lying to the FBI remains unclear. But Lang hinted after the 90-minute hearing that prosecutors could use that information during Marri's sentencing hearing,scheduled for July 30.In 2003,the Bush administration labeled Marri an enemy combatant and detained him in a Navy brig in South Carolina without charge.After Marri was indicted,the Obama administration in February ordered him turned over to civilian authorities to face criminal charges.Earlier this year,the Supreme Court agreed to hear Marri's case and decide an important legal question: Can the government arrest a civilian in the United States and hold him in military custody,without filing charges or giving him a trial? In authorizing the plea deal,the Obama administration was seeking to put behind it yet another controversial and legally troublesome terrorism case that was a holdover from the Bush administration."Good riddance. The sooner the better,'' said one career Justice Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.That official and others said the case was already becoming a quagmire for prosecutors -- and for Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and his boss,Obama -- given all of the complicated issues,including how to bring into court all of the classified evidence to be used against Marri.Defense lawyers,for instance,were already gearing up to challenge the admissibility of much of that evidence,including statements made by Marri that they claim were made under duress or even torture.Marri attorney Lawrence Lustberg said Thursday his client's time in the brig was exceedingly difficult and at times "crossed the line into torture." "He was not in humane or appropriate conditions and suffered a great deal," Lustberg said.Critics and legal experts have been closely monitoring the case as a bell-weather of how the new administration would handle a broader array of detainee issues,especially since Marri was the only remaining "enemy combatant" held on U.S. soil.Appearing in khaki pants,a plain white shirt and white kufi hat,the bearded Marri admitted to having associations with both Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks,and Mustafa al-Hawsawi,chief financier of the attacks, prior to arriving in the U.S. on Sept.10,2001 after obtaining a student visa from Bradley University.While training at several terrorist camps in Pakistan,Marri admitted he became an expert with military weapons,learned to conceal his identity online and used his computer to research chemical agents that could be used in an attack.U.S. attorneys culled from Marri's laptop computer research on various cyanide compounds,their toxicity levels and where they could be bought.Marri also admitted to exploring uses from sulfuric acid.And while it's not certain whether Marri planned to use these chemicals,U.S. agents also recovered from his house an almanac with pages book-marked showing U.S. dams, waterways and tunnels